Portlanders doing good things: A big ride, a rising leader, and a race promoter

Retired brothers David (L) and Marty Stabler are prepping to embark on a ride across America.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

How do know if your local biking ecosystem is healthy? Take the time to learn about what people are doing.

Are they riding? Are they starting new clubs, programs and organizations? Are they re-thinking the status quo to make biking even better?

This week I met with four people who are doing good things in our community.

The Bike Brothers

David and Martin (“Marty”) Stabler are retired Portlanders who are three months away from the biggest ride of their lives: a 3,650 mile pedal across the country. Their plan is to dip their wheels in the Pacific Ocean in Astoria and do the same thing in Portsmouth, New Hampshire 50 days later.

I first met David when he was a reporter for The Oregonian. He was the papers’ classical music critic and arts writer for nearly 30 years before he retired in 2015. His older (by three years) brother Marty had a career in health care and most recently worked at Legacy Emanuel Hospital.

In June they’ll shove off on their journey along with 25-30 other riders in a supported trip across America. They’ll have to average just over 70 miles a day to meet their goal. The Stabler brothers are an inspiring duo. They’re both in great shape and are enthused and confident about the challenge that lies ahead of them. As you might expect from a former reporter (David) and photographer (Martin), they’ve got a great blog going that will document the entire trip. Check it out at The BikeBrothers.com.

Adopt-a-Path

Sandra Johnson is doing something to clean up local paths.

Sandra Johnson wants to make biking in Portland a bit more pleasant by cleaning up our local paths. As part of a leadership class she wants to start an adopt-a-path program aimed at popular bike routes like the Eastbank Esplanade and Springwater Corridor. I met with her this week to help move her ideas along. Sandra is genuinely excited — and a bit nervous — about launching the project.

So far she’s connected with SOLV, a nonprofit group that specializes in building volunteer networks for clean-up projects. Her next step is to choose a date for her first event and then continue to plan and promote it. Eventually she’d like to see the program sprout wings and become a sustainable part of our community. The ultimate goal is to run this program just like the existing “Adopt-a-Road” program run by Multnomah County. To do that she’ll need to find willing organizations, businesses and/or individuals who want to sign-up and adopt specific sections of local paths and trails.

I have a feeeling we’ll be hearing much more from Sandra in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!

Re-invigorating local road racing

Matt Barney: “I just love everything associated with bicycles… And I didn’t want to see this race go away.”

Matt Barney believes in bike racing. Beyond the fun and competitive instincts racing helps us tap into, he knows the events are an avenue to a stronger community.

So when the Monday Night PIR race series became available last fall (after its owner for 20 years moved on), Barney jumped on the opportunity. With road racing participation numbers on the downswing, it’s a bit of risk. But after meeting him today and hearing all about what he’s got planned for this coming season, Barney seems poised to re-invigorate the event and possibly the local racing seen along with it.

For weeknight races like this to thrive in today’s market, Barney says they’ve got to offer more than just racing. “It’s got to be more than doing a few laps, high-fiving your friends, and then going home,” he said. “It’s got to be an experience, and that’s my vision for this event.”

Barney has added a track bike category (fixed-gear, one-speed), will have a very impressive list of prizes for everyone who comes out each week (in addition to equal payouts for winners of men’s and women’s categories), and he’s even set up a new post-race hangout spot — the sort-of still secret Royale Brewing near North Columbia Blvd and Vancouver. Royale’s brewpub is right on the route home from PIR for many local racers and it could become a great biking hotspot in a part of town that sorely needs one.

I’ll share more about the projects Sandra and Matt are working on in future posts. Wish them good luck and stay tuned!

Are you or someone you know doing something good for biking in Portland? Contact me and let’s talk about it! I’ll try to help and spread the word as much as possible.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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First look at PBOT’s new crossing of Hawthorne at 43rd

What if this was in place on August 19th 2016 when Fallon Smart tried to cross here?
(Photos: Paul Jeffery)

As promised last fall, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has updated Southeast Hawthorne Blvd with a new painted crosswalk and median island at the intsersection of 43rd Avenue. In addition to the new crossing, PBOT has received permission from the Oregon Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on Hawthorne between 29th and 50th to 20 miles per hour (down from 25).

These much-needed improvements come seven months after 15-year-old Fallon Smart was hit and killed by a man driving recklessly as she tried to walk cross Hawthorne. This location has been a concern of local residents and business owners for years because of its lack of marked crosswalks (eight blocks without one, despite a growing number of destinations on boths sides of the street) and frequency of high-speed driving.

After Smart died, the community painted its own crosswalk and filled the center turn lane with flowers and memorial items — effectively creating a temporary median. After some back-and-forth between PBOT and neighbors, the project to make permanent changes moved forward.

Here are a few more photos of the completed work (taken by local resident Paul Jeffery):

View looking north across Hawthorne from 43rd.

View from median looking west on Hawthorne.

View from median looking east on Hawthorne.

The final piece of this project will be a restriping of the existing lane markings on Hawthorne. The new 20 mph speed limit signs should be going up shortly.

We are so glad to see this design update and hope to see much more of this type of thing on commercial main streets throughout Portland.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Jobs of the Week: Rapha, Cyclone, RecumbentPDX, Seven Corners, Go By Bike, Velotech

There’s no surer sign of spring in Portland than local bike companies needing to boost their staff. We’ve got six great job opportunities that just went up this week.

Learn more about each one via the links below…

–> Customer Service Advisor – Rapha Racing LTD

–> Shipping Specialist and Delivery Driver – Cyclone Bicycle Supply

–> Mechanic, light sales – RecumbentPDX

–> Sales/Light Service – Seven Corners Cycles

–> Bike Valet Attendant – Go By Bike

–> Shipping Specialist – Velotech

For a complete list of available jobs, click here. These are paid listings. If you’d like to post a job, you can purchase a listing online by visiting our Job Listings page.

You can sign up for all the latest listings via RSS, email, or by following us on Twitter.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Legislator’s ODOT donation bill shows how desperate people are for safer roads

In 11 days last December, 10 people died while driving on highways in central Oregon.

How desperate are Oregonians for safer roads?

People in the central Oregon district of State Senator Tim Knopp were so distraught by a spate of fatal and serious injury collisions late last year, they worked with him to introduce a bill that would create a State Transportation Donation Fund. Senate Bill 798 had its first hearing on March 20th and it passed through the Senate Committee On Business and Transportation.

Senator Knopp, whose district includes the cities of Bend, Sunriver and Redmond, testified in favor of the bill at that hearing. “During an 11-day period last December we had 10 fatalities,” he shared. “It was unbelievable. There was a father and a son, a pregnant woman, two Portland physics professors… It seemed quite hopeless, almost daily… You’re kind of wondering, ‘What is going on? What can we do? Is there a solution to this?'”

Knopp said his constituents contacted him wanting to “do something about traffic safety.” While he acknowledges that a new transportation funding package will help, Knopp feels this donation fund would create a needed avenue for people who are “grieving and grasping for something tangible they can do.”

“Facebook and GoFundMe don’t seem adequate,” Sen. Knopp said at the hearing.

Senator Knopp.

The bill would create a fund within the Oregon Department of Transportation that could accept gifts and donations from individuals. According to an official summary of the bill, the fund would be used to “generate profits, dividends, and interest” which in turn could be allocated to specific transportation projects earmarked by the donor. If no project was named by the donor, the Oregon Transportation Commission would determine how the money should be spent.

ODOT’s Highway Division Administrator Paul Mather also testified at the hearing. He said existing law already allows state agencies to accept gifts or donations of cash, land, or materials via Oregon Revised Statute 293.090. However the process isn’t easy to follow and it’s very rare that anyone ever uses it.

I followed-up with Mather via email this week and asked for any recent examples of donations received by ODOT. He said someone donated $48,000 toward the Salem Baggage Depot Restoration Project in January 2015. And last October someone send ODOT a check of $250 with a memo line that read, “for Oregon’s roads.”

Asked by committee Chair Lee Beyer whether he supported SB 798, Mather declined to take a position and only said that it would formalize the existing process. If the bill passes, ODOT would set up a fund at the State Treasury.

Is this really what we’ve come to in Oregon? Crowdfunding for the basic need of safe roads? If people felt like ODOT was doing its job — doing as much to make highways safe as they do to make them bigger, faster and smoother — bills like this would never exist.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Weekend Event Guide: 3-speeds, the Gorge, a big sale, and more

Riding in and around The Dalles will be beautiful this weekend at the Gorge Roubaix and Gravel Grinder events.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

I know it’s hard to believe, and I know Saturday is April Fools Day on Saturday, but spring seems to have finally sprung. We actually have more sun than rain in the forecast for the next few days.

So embrace it! And ride your bike.

Here are some event and ride ideas to inspire you…

All Weekend

Western Bikeworks Spring Sale (Pearl District and Tigard locations)
Our partners at Western Bikeworks are having a big Spring Bike Sale. Get into one of their two locations for big discounts on last year’s bikes. While you’re there, tell them you appreciate their ad campaign on BikePortland. Their support keeps us alive. More info here.

Saturday, April 1st

Gorge Roubaix Race – All day in The Dalles
For the strong among us, The Dalles is the place to be this weekend. Two days of hard riding kicks off with this race on Saturday. Ride along the cliffs of the Gorge, up and over the Rowena curves and then into the backroads of Mosier. Part of the Oregon Gravel Grinder Series. More info here.

Slow Poke Ride – 10:00 am at TriMet Park & Ride (NE Sandy and 96th)
A great way to kick off spring riding is an easy, socially-paced jaunt out to the Troutdale General Store led by the Portland Wheelmen. More info here.

Fundraiser for Nathan Jones’ Global Bike Ride – 7:00 pm at Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River (215 Cascade Avenue)
If you find yourself in Hood River Saturday night, pop into this event and help Portlander Nathan Jones raise money for his around-the-world bike ride. Jones is currently somewhere in New Zealand as far as we know. More info here.

Sunday, April 2nd

Gorge Gravel Grinder – All day in The Dalles
If racing isn’t your thing and you still want an epic adventure in The Dalles, the Gravel Grinder is your ride. There are three fun loops to choose from: 40, 65. or 96 miles. All of them are on the virtually carfree and always gorgeous dirt roads east of The Dalles. Grab some friends and make it a weekend! More info here.

The Sauvie Shootout – 9:00 am at Ovation Coffee (941 NW Overton)
This is a new weekly ride that’s perfect for riders looking for a fast training ride that simulates race conditions. Meets in northwest, heads to Sauvie and then up the West Hills to loop back via Skyline. More info here.

Burnt Bridge 40-Mile Loop – 10:00 am at Rivelo (401 SE Caruthers)
Venture north of Portland into Vancouver to discover the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail. Expect a conversational pace and a 40-mile loop that starts and ends near OMSI. Tom Howe of Puddlecycle fame will be your leader. More info here.

Three Speed Ride – 10:30 am at Khunamokwst Park (corner of NE 52nd Ave & Alberta)
Urban adventurist, artist and Society of Three Speeds founder Shawn Granton will be your guide for his first three-speed ride of the season. Hub gears only on this one please! Oh, and don’t forget to bring your tea-brewing supplies More info here.

Did we miss anything? If so, give it a shout out in the comments.

For more fun events, including great stuff next week and beyond, visit our full events calendar.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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When Classic Pottery and Modern Contacts Collide

As a potter who loves great design… classic pottery… and a contact wearer…
I was excited when I first saw this on my Instagram feed this morning!

At first I thought it was just some sort of advertisement for new contact lenses.
I almost scrolled right past them.
Until I saw  and recognized the Instagram user name.

From #potsinaction on Instagram…
Only having eyes for pottery isn’t new for some of us, but these contact lenses etched with a pattern from a Delft plaque take it to a whole new leverl! Collaborative duo, architect Ali Soltani and artist Francine LeClercq, are finalists for the 2017 Rijksstudio Award from the Rijks Museum with this incredible piece. From their website, “Based on the design  of XVII century plaques in the museum collection, our entry DELFT BLUE EYES consists of non-prescriptive contact lenses whose hydrogel surface has been printed with Delft Blue pattern. While drawing on a distinct cultural heritage of Dutch Delftware, the direct juxtaposition of a perceived work and its viewing subject is a nod to Marcel Duchamp’s critique on retinal art through the selective process of “Readymades.” Today, in an era enmeshed by trajectories of prying eyes, the perceiving subject itself is the tentative Readymade the moment it is caught viewing its prey, here the enameled tine-glaze of Delft under a glassy gaze.”

So take a look closer… they’re not just colored contacts.
They change your eye color into a classic Delft china pattern!!! AMAZING!!!
And more importantly, where & when can I buy them???

So these incredible contacts and the images produced are finalists in the museum’s contest. Click here to vote for your favorite of the Top Ten Finalists. Voting is open until April 20, 2017.

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